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UnmAsked
UnmAsked is the 25th episode of Season 2 of Pretty Little Liars. This episode marks the Season 2 Finale. It aired on March 19, 2012. This episode happened on February 2011. Synopsis The local news station reports the arrest of Garrett Reynolds for the murder of Alison DiLaurentis. He became a cop in order to destroy evidence, page 5 the girls surmise. Melissa appears and tell the girls she always knew Ian didn't kill Alison, and never believed they did either, though she knows about "The Jenna Thing." If Garrett killed Alison, then he must have had a good reason. She helps herself to Aria's toffee flavored frozen yogurt and leaves the girls feeling more suspicious of her then ever. They all receive a text from "A" instructing them to return the cell phone as a messenger delievers invitations to a masquerade ball along with a message from "A" that demands their attendance. Spencer is sure they can discover who "A" is before the midnight deadline because hide and seek is her favorite game. She always won. Outside school, the girls discuss how smart and untrustworthy Melissa is. Spencer insists they overlooked a clue in Ali's bag. They change the subject to costume choices when Mona approaches. Mona suggests they all go shopping after school together. They all turn her down one by one, including Hanna, who lies about studying with Caleb. Aria and Ezra have their first official dance. They remove their masks and even kiss in public, not caring who might see. Elsewhere, a masked Paige dressed in a suit approaches Emily. Spencer and Mona take in the room, which is plastered with photos of all the girls, newspaper clippings, dolls, maps and blueprints, and many familiar items belonging to A; it’s "A's" lair. Paige and Emily sit down and have a conversation about their relationship. Paige wishes she hadn't let Emily go the first time around. In the end, they decide to be friends. Back at the motel, Spencer and Mona get a closer look at the items in "A's" lair. Mona discovers some sketches of a masquerade costume. They assume "A" must be dressing as the Black Swan and Mona calls Hanna to warn her. Back at the party, Hanna happens to notice the Black Swan make an entrance. While at "A's" lair, Spencer begins to notice the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. Mona offers Spencer a piece of gum. She declines, then notices that there is a gum wrapper inside of Ali's stolen diary . When Mona momentarily leaves the room, Spencer finds more clues pointing to "A" being Mona, including a bag of cashmere sweaters. And when Mona returns, she is wearing "A's" black hoodie and knocks Spencer unconscious with a flashlight. The other girls reunite with Hanna and all 3 are curious about the identity of the Black Swan. They see her talking to Jenna and Lucas. When they try to get a closer look, the mystery woman runs away, escaping out the back door which locks behind her. All she leaves behind is a feather from her dress. Spencer wakes up in the car terrified with Mona driving recklessly. At the party, Hanna tries to call Spencer, but her phone isn't working. Aria makes the call instead as they realize Hanna's phone has been set to record every time it is turned on. Spencer covertly answers Aria's video call so that her friends can see and hear her conversation with Mona. The girls come to the realization that Mona is in fact "A," leaving Hanna in a state of disbelief that her so-called friend is "A." A quick-thinking Spencer drops the hint that they are headed to Lookout Point. Aria knows a shortcut and they race to get there first. Mona tells Spencer that she admires her and that she has two choices: join the A-team or disappear. When Spencer asks if it was because of Alison, she claims it was because she the other girls stole Hanna from her, and that they all deserved what they got. When they reach Lookout Point Spencer jumps out of the car. As the girls arrive, Hanna almost runs Mona over. Mona seeing that Hanna knows she's A flies into a frenzy, and tries to throw Spencer off the cliff. However, a small slip up causes her to fall instead. The girls look down in shock. At the ambulance Dr. Sullivan arrives and tells the girls that "A" threatened her son so that dhe would leave Rosewood. As she comforts the girls they overhear the police say that Mona's alive. Dr. Sullivan diagnosis' Mona with a personality disorder which caused her to experience a sense of hyper-reality and omnipresence. We learn from Mona's thoughts that everything is working out just as she planned. Mona is found to be criminally insane and sent to an asylum for treatment. Dr. Sullivan is confident that Mona can be helped with treatment. Outside, Dr. Sullivan reveals it was Toby who convinced her to come back to Rosewood. Toby, waiting by his truck parked out front, tells Spencer he had to pretend not to love her, and the couple makes up with a passionate kiss. Later, the girls head to Emily's house to spend the night when an ambulance rushes past them. The police are waiting, and Emily runs up to her mom, who tells her that the police found a body… and they think it is Maya's. Emily is distraught. She falls into Spencer's arms and screams and sobs at the sight of the stretcher taking the body away while the girls try to comfort her. Meanwhile, Mona is hospitalized -- and at the end of the episode, someone wearing a red coat visits Mona in her cell. Mona tells the visitor, "I did everything you asked me to." Notes *This episode contained many deliberate references to the Alfred Hitchcock thriller, "Psycho," a favorite of Pretty Little Liars Executive Producer, I. Marlene King. The feel of the desolate motel, the creepy shower scene, and Mona's monologue at the end of the episode are among the many nods. *The Black Swan comes from the ballet "Swan Lake," wherein the evil Von Rothbart tricks Prince Siegfried into believing that Von Rothbart's daughter (Odile) is the Princess Odette by making them look the same. In other versions of the ballet, Odile (known as the Black Swan because her costume is black) is actually the evil twin/double of Odette (who wears a white costume). The same ballerina usually performs both parts. All this could hint to the existence of Courtney DiLaurentis in the series. The Black Swan was popularized by the recent Natalie Portman film. *When Marlene mentioned the 'black swan' as a clue, it could also refer to the 'black swan theory' rather than the film or swan lake ballet. The theory is defined on wikipedia as 'an event that is a suprise (to the observer), has a major impact, and after the fact is often inappropriately rationalized with the benefit of hindsight'. This is true, considering Mona was a suprise to us as A, had a major impact upon not only the storyline, but the main characters, and was completely rational once viewed with hindsight. *Homages are made made to Bryan Holdman and Francesca Rollins, writers for Pretty Little Liars, in the form of their names appearing in the Guestbook at the hotel. *Much like the pilot episode covers the first Pretty Little Liars novel, this episode covers the fourth book. Continuity *Spencer finds a bag of cashmere blend sweater sets inside "A's" lair, the same sweaters Mona offered Spencer after her post-Noel shopping frenzy in "Let the Water Hold Me Down." *The last few seconds of the episode parallel the scene in the "Pilot" when Alison's body is discovered, down to the song playing in the background. *Hanna almost hits "A" with her car--again. She stops short as Mona stands momentarily frozen in the headlights, whereas in "Through Many Dangers, Toils, and Snares," Hanna actually hit "A." *Many of the elements that we have seen "A" playing with before are now contextualized in "A's" lair, including the many glossy photographs of the group, as well as dolls, a clown mask, the clown bank, the burlap Halloween costume, blonde wigs, the voodoo doll, and a Danby mug. Goofs *Mona is found criminally insane after Dr. Sullivan diagnoses her with a personality disorder. Generally, people with personality disorders don't qualify as criminally insane under the legal definition, since they still know the difference between right and wrong. This could mean that because Sullivan knew of what Mona had been doing to the girls, she categorized her as criminally insane regardless. Trivia *Various moments during scenes at the hotel are reminiscent of the the horror film Psycho: **When Hanna is taking a shower and 'A' walks in, 'A' doesn't do anything due to the fact that her phone rings. In Psycho, the woman taking a shower gets killed. **When Harold says to Spencer that he finds himself talking to the stuffed creatures. Spencer says that he only has to worry if they start to talk back. Harold, almost defensively asks what she means. Spencer tells him that she was joking. In Psycho, the hotel manager talks to his deceased mother's skeleton and says that he hears his mother's voice and she tells him to kill the woman in the shower. **In Psycho, the woman stays at a motel that looks much like the one in UnmAsked, and stays in room 1, just like Spencer, Aria, Hanna, Emily and Alison before them did. **In Psycho, Norman Bates takes a picture off the wall, revealing a hole in the wall, which he spies on the woman next door through. In UnmAsked, A does the same thing to the girls. *Aria and Mona have both nominated the word "toffee." Aria in the first scene, when she gave the frozen yogurt to Melissa and Mona when she spoke to herself at the police's station, saying "I love this lipstick, what's it it called? Toffee Tango." *Both Vivian and "Big A" both have been shown to were red. At the masquarde ball there are two women that are prodominantly seen the the back ground. Both have golden masks (though different). One is seen walking in as Hanna and Mona start talking at the ball, she has straight blond hair. The other is seen by Emily just before Paige begins to talk to her, she has curly hair. Screen Shot 2012-12-09 at 4.49.17 PM.png|Straight-Haired Blonde in Red Dress Screen Shot 2012-12-09 at 4.50.06 PM.png|Curly-Haired Blonde in Red Dress Title *The definition of 'unmasked' could mean: :(verb with object) :#stripped a mask or disguise from. :#revealed the true character of; disclosed; exposed. :(verb without object) :#with one's mask put off; appeared in true nature. *In this episode, the Liars unmasked "A's" true identity. In addition, before admitting her identity to Spencer, Mona unmasked herself from her masquerade costume. The effect of the title is augmented thanks to the capital 'A' in the centre of the word. Main Cast Troian Bellisario as Spencer Hastings Ashley Benson as Hanna Marin Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis/Vivian Darkbloom Guest Stars Lindsey Shaw as Paige McCullers Tyler Blackburn as Caleb Rivers Torrey DeVitto as Melissa Hastings Ian Harding as Ezra Fitz Janel Parrish as Mona Vanderwaal Tammin Sursok as Jenna Marshall Keegan Allen as Toby Cavanaugh Annabeth Gish as Anne Sullivan Nia Peeples as Pam Fields Brendan Robinson as Lucas Gottesman Travis Richley as Harold Crane Featured Music *"Better In Time" by Leona Lewis (at the masquerade ball) *"Always" by Peter Bradley Adams (Aria meets Ezra) *"Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum (Ezria dance) *"Suggestions" by Orelia Has Orchestra (Maya's body is discovered} Memorable Quotes Navigational Category:Episodes Category:Season Finale Category:Season 2